US-China Commission Report - Fatal System Error

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nomic, defense, and foreign policy positions. Dr. Esper also served
as the candidate’s National Security Advisor.
Before joining the Thompson Campaign, Dr. Esper was Executive
Vice President of the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) of
America, the premier trade organization representing the nation’s
aerospace and defense industry. In addition to his duties as COO,
Dr. Esper was also responsible for AIA’s defense and international
policy offices.
Dr. Esper served a number of years on Capitol Hill. His last assignment
was Director of National Security Affairs for Senate Majority
Leader Bill Frist (R–TN), where he was responsible for all
foreign policy, defense, and intelligence matters. He served earlier
in his career as Policy Director for the House Armed Services Committee,
and as a senior professional staff member on the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Governmental Affairs
Committee. In each of these capacities he was responsible for a national
security portfolio that included a wide variety of national security,
foreign policy, trade, intelligence, and defense issues. From
2002 until 2004 Dr. Esper served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary
of Defense for Negotiations Policy at the Pentagon. In this
capacity he was responsible for all arms control, nonproliferation,
international agreements, UN matters, and related issues for the
Defense Department. He led teams of negotiators in Geneva, assisted
in delegations to allied capitals, and represented the department
on Capitol Hill, in the interagency, and in the media. For his
service at the Pentagon he was awarded the Department of Defense
Distinguished Public Service Medal. Earlier in his career Dr.
Esper served as the Legislative Director and Senior Policy Advisor
for Senator Chuck Hagel (R–NE), and was Chief of Staff at The
Heritage Foundation, a renowned Washington-based think tank.
Dr. Esper is a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel and Infantry officer
who served over a decade on active duty, including a combat
tour in Iraq during the 1990–91 Gulf War, and assignments with
the 101st Airborne Division and the 82nd Airborne Division. His
last active duty assignment was as a strategy and policy analyst,
and USPACOM planning officer, at the Pentagon. During his time
in uniform, Dr. Esper received a number of awards, including the
Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medals, and
Combat Infantryman’s Badge.
Dr. Esper is a distinguished graduate of the United States Military
Academy at West Point, NY. He earned an MPA from the JFK
School of Government at Harvard University, and his Ph.D. at the
George Washington University in Washington, DC.
Jeffrey L. Fiedler
Jeffrey L. Fiedler was reappointed to the Commission by House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi on December 19, 2007, for a second term expiring
December 31, 2009. Fiedler is President of Research Associates
of America (‘‘RAA’’), a non-profit labor research organization.
Previously, he was the elected President of the Food and Allied
Service Trades Department, AFL–CIO (‘‘FAST’’). This constitutional
department of the AFL–CIO represented 10 unions with a
membership of 3.5 million in the United States and Canada. The